The Story Of Ember
by ColorsOfInvisibility
Summary: You know the story of the girl on fire and the boy with the bread. You were there through their battles, heartbreaks, pain, and most of all the rebellion. What you don't know is what actually started it. What pushed the rebellion into motion. Her name is Ember, she was a thirteen year old tribute in the 73 hunger games. Come read the story of Ember; the spark that started it all.
1. Chapter 1

"Haymitch!" I call, banging on the cedar door," Come on, open up!" He rarely locks his door, but this is the second time this week.

I begin looking at my options. Last time, he forgot to lock all of the windows, but I wasn't as lucky this time. Ha, I'm never lucky; it's sad to say, but the odds are never in my favor.

I consider bothering Hazelle for the spare she uses to come clean, but she's at home taking care of a sick Posy. She's an option, but I'm determined to get in by myself. It seems like everyone is doting on me here lately, with my spells and all. With the anniversary of the games nearing, they seem to be getting worse.

it's been three years since I was first put in that hell hole. Two years since the Quarter Quell. A little less than a year since we won the rebellion. It's shocks me that its been that long; some days, it seems like it has been a lifetime, others , like it was yesterday. Nightmares bring everything back like a flood; gruesome deaths of past tributes, watching the life drain out of Katniss' body, our future children being reaped, being toured and hijacked in the Capitol, and other grisly horrors.

I don't know what I'd do without Katniss. Being able to wake up with her in my arms brings me back to reality, let's me know everything's alright. Nights, we help each other cope; days , I distract myself by baking, Katniss has her hunting, and Haymitch drinks.

With the anniversary nearing, Katniss and I are scared he'll choke on his own vomit or overdo it on the liquor. We've been checking in on him, making sure he eats more and drinks less. While Katniss is out hunting, I decided perfect time to do so. He's been making it difficult lately, so it doesn't surprise me he's locked the house up.

Growing tired of waiting out here, I find a reasonable size rock and throw it at a window big enough for me to fit through. Once I'm in the smell hits me immediately; stale liquor and other undecipherable scents. I see Haymitch on the floor in front of the television. He hasn't moved, even at the sound of a rock through his window. For a moment I think he's dead.

"Did it ever occur to you," his slurred word's catching me by surprise,"that the door is locked to keep you out?", than he began heaving up a murky liquid ,which I can only guess is liquor and stomach acid, followed by him passing out.

I pick him up and sling him over my shoulder, trying not to be disgusted by some of the contents he transfers on my shirt, and put him on the couch. Here lately, he hasn't been eating much so he's the same weight has some of the sacks of flour I pick up.

Not wanting to leave this mess due to its repulsive smell and the trouble it would cause Hazelle later, I open the windows and mop the vomit. It amazes me how Katniss thinks she won't be great with a child, when she cleans up an intoxicated Haymitch all of the time; it's really the same thing. Change them, clean up their messes, feed them, give them their bottles, put them to bed, and so on. I only hope our child will not be as sarcastic and give me the urge to strangle him on a day-to-day basis.

The thought gives me a much needed smile that quickly disappears when I hear the crunch of glass behind me. I whipped around to find myself with an arrow in my face. "Goddammit Katniss! You know not to sneak up on me like that!" I say trying to catch my breath feeling episode coming.

She lowers her bow, and begins yelling frantically ,"You should have answered me! I saw the window broken and I called your name...",her voice sounds muffled, like she's standing outside when she's only a foot away. She notices my expression and stops speaking, quickly grabbing a chair for me to sit in, before I collapse.

While I lower myself into the seat, I faintly here the sound of a liquor bottle shattering against the floor; I must have grabbed it when I heard Katniss came in. I try to slow my breathing while she holds my hand soothing me with her words. My eyes are watering but I do not cry. Breath, I told myself. It was only Katniss, You're alright.

As if reading my mind, Katniss soothingly repeats my thoughts out loud,"You're alright, I'm here." This time, I here her loud and clear. Somehow her words help me in a way others can't. With time I can get over it myself ,but it helps when she's there. "Do you need anything?", she ask softly.

"Water," I reply in a hoarse whisper. As she walks past the coffee table, I see the remote and grab it. Maybe TV will help. I play the tape that Haymitch was watching before.

"Well Caesar," a too chipper Capitol voice says,"looks like there are only three tributes left and there are only yards between them. I wonder how this will end."

"Well, it can only end one way! Two of the remaining tributes will die, leaving the last standing as victor of the 73rd annual Hunger Games. It's just a matter of who." A colorful Caesar replies. Not a second later the camera switches to an abandoned city in ruins. Three teenagers ,two boys and a girl, are forming a triangle, each with a weapon in hand.I've seen this before, four years ago on a mandatory viewing.

Although I know what happens, the scene still sickens girl will raise a dagger to throw at the dark skinned boy, though she will miss, the boy will throw one hitting her heart. The Red-head ,who was her ally, will rush over to help her ,but the girls killer will repeatedly bash him in the head with a large piece of concrete and become the 73rd Victor in the history of Panem.

I never saw the girl throw the knife and get killed because of a district-wide glitch; I only know what the Capitol told us. Before I could think more of I see the girl raise her dagger like she did right before the malfunction, but instead of throwing it ,she turns it inwards and thrusts it into her chest.

No that can't be right. The victor killed her. That's what the Capitol said. Then I remember what corrupted, lying, manipulating, people they were and come to a conclusion. They lied.

The girl's scream, filled with emotion, pierces through the screen, jolting Haymitch awake, flailing and yelling,"Noooooooooo! Ember, don't do it!"

**To everyone who read this, this is my first fanfic. I really hope you all like it! Tell me your opinions below in the reviews. Tell me if you love it or hate it, your opinions make me a better writer so don't hold back! If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer if I can! Thank you all who read this! You guys are great!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ember ' s POV**

_Run. Don't look back. But it's hard to run when words are weighing you down. Bastard child, dirty little brat, he accused. Tears are forming in the corner of my eyes, freezing as they streak across my face. Piece of trash, just like your mother, worthless little bitch, he roared. The winter air bites at my exposed skin; frozen ground tearing at my bare feet, but this was all numb compared to the pain of his final words to me. Get out, your not mine so why should I care if you die out there?._

_Suddenly I lurch forward, stumbling down the incline, yet all I could think about were the words. Your. Not. Mine. Why should I care if you die? The worse pain of it all was the fact that he said it with such little emotion, letting it out like he was breathing air. It was worse than all of his blows, and insults. It left me questioning everything._

_I finally find the bottom of the hill, lying there in the soft snow, contemplating staying there and dying like he wanted me to. That's when I hear my name. Its a soft whisper, gently kissing my ears like a falling snowflake. I rise to find the source, wondering if I was going crazy when I hear it again. It is at this moment that I realize where I am._

_No. Not here, anywhere but here. I try running, getting as far as I can from this place, but it is as if I'm nailed to the ground. I try struggling as mine workers pass by me, walking to their imminent death, in the middle of them is the face that has never left me all of these years. My name is still echoing, and I now know who is calling me. My mother's voice, like honey, is screaming my name._

_They're now in the cage and I try warning them, but there is a weight on my chest, preventing me from crying out, much less breathe. My name is pounding through my head so much that it is has lost all meaning. Ember, Ember, Ember. I know it's my mother chanting my name, yet her face is un moving. I glance up and make eye contact with her, and her gaze paralyzes me. She mouths something incomprehensible as the gates begin to close. All I can do is stand here and cry, watching them being lowered. Seconds later, an explosion sends me flying into a white oblivion. _

I wake up to piercing gray eyes staring down at me. Frannie, my brain registers. She looks at me a quivering lip, and sobs,"Did the monsters come again?" I look up at her, immediately feeling a wave of guilt overcome me. You have to be gentle with Frannie, she's several years older then me, but has the mind of a child. When she was about five, peacekeepers came and killed her parents while Frannie sat there, forced to watch. They left her there hugging her mother's mangled body. She was there alone, until her grandmother, Greasy Sae came and found her. She's been taking care of Frannie ever since.

"It's alright Frannie, the monsters are gone. I'm alright, they didn't hurt me, and they won't hurt you." I consol as my hand strokes her mangled blonde hair. Even though she's fifteen and I'm thirteen, we are often mistaken as each other. We have the same light build, we're about the same height, and have the same blonde hair.

The only difference is our eyes. She has grey seam eyes opposed to my hazel ones. It is her eyes that I notice when she looks up at me and replys,"The monsters will never be gone, but I'll be okay." In those storm cloud eyes I saw all the pain, evened out by her strength. I am telling the truth when I say Frannie is one of the strongest people I know.

She holds my gaze a little longer, the says,"Grandmama needs you." Then she stands up and walk into the only other room of the house. I soon follow, seeing Sae has already began cooking a pot of stew.

She sees me enter and gives me a smile that feels me with warmth. "Good your up, I need your help bringing this to the hob, these bones aren't what they used to be. But, first you need to eat, you're so thin, twigs would be jealous", she jokes. We eat, and are soon on our way down the dirt path in the very dim light. The stew sloshing providing the only noise in the late spring dawn.

We reach the rickety warehouse, nodding at the few early ones setting up booths. We head to ours, and I place the pot down on the old table then take Frannie into the back. I keep her preoccupied while Sae begins to ladle out bowls of stew, chunks of meat plopping into the bowls.

The soup makes me think of everything Sae has done for me. She took me in when I was nine, ever since the day I came to her, offering work for food. She's fed, clothed, and cared for a child that she didn't even know, for about four years. I don't know how I could ever repay her. It's hard to have enough for yourself in district twelve, much less yourself, a handicap, and an orphan.

Before I can ponder over it any longer, Sae called out,"Ember dear, I need your help for a second." I give Frannie a dirty piece of ribbon to play with and imerge from behind the ratty blanket, noticing several people eating at the counter.

"What do you need?" I ask noticing Sae standing near Ripper, the old, auburn - haired liquor maker.

"Ripper here needs someone to make a delivery, and I said you could."

"I'm a little limited", Ripper replied holding up her stump of an arm,"And I would get one of the kids running around here, but they all refuse this run. They're not as brave as you.", she winked.

"Why? Who is the delivery to?", I questioned, running through a list of people too drunk to get their own liquor.

They both glance at each other, hesitating a moment then in sync answer,"Haymitch Abernathy."

**Hey guys, so if you didn't know, the top is Ember dreaming. It was sorta a flashback to when her 'father' kicked her out when she was nine, but it was also her dreaming of her mother's death. Her mother died in the same mine explosion as Katniss' and Gale ' s fathers. She was not actually there when it happened. I don't know when I'll post again, hopefully soon. Please review! I need your guys feedback to improve! Tell me what you like, what you dislike, or whatever you want! Thank you to all who read this, I hope you like the story.**


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